On this page
-
Text (1)
-
Untitled Article
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
-
-
Transcript
-
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
Additionally, when viewing full transcripts, extracted text may not be in the same order as the original document.
Untitled Article
{ psis&imus ; and is the synonyroe and substitute of the moat exclusive of all the appellatives of Deity , the name Jehovah . 4 L That there is no certain proo / of its being distinctly applied to tne Messiah in any of theTarguinB now extant 5 while , in very numerous places , it is so plainly used , with per tonal attributives , yet in distinction from the name of God , that an application to the Messiah cannot be held improbable / 9 { This extorted acknowledgment is enough for our purpose , but we are prepared to contest the statement in
the latter clause . ] ** 6 . That solely froan the use of the phrase , the memru of Jah , or the word of the Lo ?* d , in those paraphrases , no absolute information jean be deduced , concerning the doctrine of the Jews , in the interval between the Old Testament and the New , upon the person of their expected Messiah . I have said solely from the use of this phrasej bat if we combine this fact with others , derived from the study of the Old Testament , it will , I conceive .
appear a very rational conjecture , that the Rabbinical authors of the age referred to , had vague ideas of the Word as an intelligent agent , the medium of the Divine operations and communications to mankind . I cannot , however , make this opinion a ground of independent argument , as has been done by some writers , * who have probably taken it from each other in succession , without much severity of examination . "—Scripture Test . Ch . vii . Vol . I . pp . 561—563 , 2 d edition .
Although his conjecture as to the Rabbinical use of the term Word does not seem to us very rational , we can excuse Dr . S . 's anxiety to find in the phraseology of the Targiims what his fancy may represent as relics of a faith , in his estimation purer , existing in earlier times , in consideration of the candour of his acknowledgment that the use of the phrase " Word of the Lord , " can afford no absolute information concerning the doctrine of the
Jews of that age upon the person of the expected Messiah . As to the alleged instances of titles and attributes of the Supreme God being ascribed in the Targums to the Messiah , we can only say that we are acquainted with no such instances , and that in the examples produced by Dr . S . he appears to us to have strangely misconceived the meaning of the author's words ; of this we shall give one or two specimens in justification of what we have asserted . In Dr . S . ' s supplementary note on 2 Sam . xxiii . 1—7 , is the following passage :
" A part of this Targum or Chaldee Paraphrase of Jonathan deserves to be transcribed , as an Interesting proof that the ancient Jews regarded the passage as certainly referring to- the Messiah ; and that in so applying it , they attributed to him the express characters of Deity . The God of Israel spake with respect to me , the ttock of Israel % the Sovereign of the sons of men , the true Judge hath spoken to appoint me king , for Jib is the Messiah that shall be , who shall arise and rule in the fear of the Lord . "
Now we venture to present what follows as a faithful translation of the words of the Targum as found in the London Polyglott , which we transcribe in the note : " David said , The God of Israel hath spoken to me ; the Rock of Israel , He who ruleth among the sons of men ; the righteous Judge hath said , that he would appoint to me a king ( i . e . as a successor ) . This is the Messiah who will arise and rule in the fear of the Lord . ^
-f-* " Particularly by Dr . Peter Allix , in his Judgment of the stncient Jewish Church ; a work not remarkable for accurate statement or judicious reasoning . "Author ' s note . tfttMK » iaa to » b > ttfi ^ fcrntMi m > 'pn ^ o **? v bmwn nnbk * in - > dh t « n ? m ^ en V tp n loipn i > njn mv tPD wm * o *? d ?? rmap ^ noH jkt kdump Turgum on 2 Sam . xxiii . 3 , 4 . — : vi
Untitled Article
Dr . J . P * Smith ' s Scripture Testimony to the Messiah ,. 459
-
-
Citation
-
Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), July 2, 1831, page 459, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2599/page/27/
-